State grants license for downtown Flint microbrewery but next-door pastor prays it will fail

FLINT, MI -- The state has approved a license for what could be Flint's first microbrewery, planned for a shuttered Flint fire station near downtown.

Despite the green light for the project, the Rev. Patrick McNeal, pastor at Living Grace Community Fellowship and My Brother's Keeper, said his congregation will pray that the brewery fails even before it opens its doors.

"We are praying that it closes," McNeal said. "Is this the right place to do this? Absolutely not."

MLive-The Flint Journal could not immediately reach Jason Caya, a representative of Tenacity Brewing, for comment on the status of the business or its timeline for producing beer.

Andrea Miller, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, said in an email that the license and entertainment permit for Tenacity were approved by the state Liquor Control Commission on Aug. 1.

Located just north of the Flint River on North Grand Traverse Street, the brewery property is less than 500 feet from My Brother's Keeper, a 25-bed shelter for homeless men in Flint, and offers Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and other 12-step-type programs.

McNeal said the shelter picked its spot on the western edge of downtown Flint in 2007 on purpose -- away from bars and liquor stores. The same building was once the Harvest House Shelter, the former city rescue mission.

"Who wants a bar next to a church?" the pastor asked. "The mayor and others endorse it, and forgot about the people."

Flint Emergency Manager Darnell Earley had also recommended that the state approve Caya's application for the license.

Caya had issued a statement previously, saying the business "respectfully and sympathetically acknowledges Pastor McNeal's concerns that he has expressed."

"Directly serving those with substance abuse problems and those that are homeless is critical work in our community," the statement says. "However, we do not believe our interests conflict with that of Living Grace ... and My Brother's Keeper. Further, we do not believe that our business will adversely affect their ability to provide services to those in need."

The site of the proposed brewery was once home to the New Market Fire Station Compassion Center of Greater Flint, a medical marijuana facility that was evicted when the building underwent foreclosure.

Located in the city's Carriage Town Historic District, the structure was built in 1912 and became a fire department repair shop in the 1920s.